Two-in-one sports belt

ABSTRACT

A sports belt comprises two sections of material removably attached to each other at their ends to form a loop or belt for wearing at the waist of a user. One of the sections of material may be attached at its ends to form a loop suitable for wearing as an arm band. Either or both sections may include a pouch for securely carrying small items such as keys or a cellphone.

RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. Section 119(e) to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/881455, entitled “TWO-IN-ONE SPORTS BELT,” filed on Aug. 1, 2019, which application is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety for all purposes.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a sports belt, and particularly to a sports belt that includes a storage area for securely holding a cellphone, keys, or other items while the wearer is engaged in athletic activity.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Runners and others athletes find it useful to have some means of carrying a phone, a set of keys, or other items, on their person while they are engaged in an athletic activity. Sports belts made of flexible fabric are available for this purpose, the belts having internal pockets that allow a user to temporarily store such items while wearing the belt. These belts are typically made of continuous loops of stretchable material and are sold in various sizes to accommodate the different body sizes of the users.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

One embodiment of the sports belt of the instant invention comprises a first section of material attached at each end to a respective end of a second section of material, the two sections together to form a loop for wearing at the waist of the user. When the two sections are separated, the second section of material may be attached at its ends to form a smaller loop that may be worn as an armband. One or more storage compartments may be formed in the belt, in either section or in both.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Non-limiting embodiments of the present invention will be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying figures, which are schematic and are not intended to be drawn to scale. In the figures, each identical or nearly identical component illustrated is typically represented by a single numeral. For purposes of clarity, not every component is labeled in every figure, nor is every component of each embodiment of the invention shown where illustration is not necessary to allow those of ordinary skill in the art to understand the invention. In the figures:

FIG. 1 depicts a sports belt according to one aspect of the instant invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the sports belt depicting the two sections attached by zippers to form the sports belt.

FIG. 3 depicts the layers of material and the stitching that form pockets in the shorter section of the sports belt.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the sports belt as seen from the opposite side of that depicted in FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 depicts the layers of material that form a pocket in the longer section of material.

FIGS. 6A and 6B depict the sports belt in its connected and unconnected configuration

FIGS. 7A-C illustrate the use of the shorter section of material as an armband.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIGS. 1 and 2 depict a sports belt 10 constructed in accordance with the instant invention. The belt is preferably comprised of a longer section of material 11 and a shorter section of material 12, attached to each other on their ends by a pair of zippers 14 and 15 to form a loop. Of course, other attachment means could be used, such as hook-and-loop fasteners or button snaps.

Each of sections 11 and 12 is comprised of a back fabric layer 20 and front fabric layers (described below) of material attached together by a binding 16 at the top and bottom edges of the layers, thereby forming an empty space between the two fabric layers. The shorter section 12 includes two pouches or pockets 17 and 18 separated by vertical stitching 19 between them. As depicted in FIG. 3, in each pocket, an upper segment or flap of material 21 overlaps a lower segment 22 so that, in order to put an item into one of the pouches, one must pull out the edge of the upper flap 21 so that the item to be stored may be slipped behind the flap 21 and segment 22 and in front of the back fabric layer 20. The overlap of flap 21 and segment 21 cooperates with back layer 20 to removably secure the item within the sports belt during use.

Sports belt 10 also preferably includes a means for adjusting or tightening the belt, such as the hook-and-loop fastener arrangement depicted here. As seen in FIG. 2, a section of loop material 30 is affixed to the front of the belt on the shorter section of material 12, and a section of hook material (not shown) is attached to the underside of flap 32 that extends from the edge of section 12 near the loop material 30. The belt may be selectively loosened or tightened by adjusting the point of attachment of the hook material (not shown) on the underside of flap 32 to the loop material 30. Alternatively, the location of the hook material and loop material may be reversed, with the hook material on the belt and the loop material on the flap. Of course, other types of fasteners maybe be employed for this purpose, such as button snaps.

The longer section of material 11 may also include a pouch or pocket 23 as shown in FIG. 4, which depicts the back side of the belt 10 of FIG. 1. The pocket 23 is formed in front of the back layer of material 19 by overlapping segments of material 24, 25, and 26 (see FIG. 5), so that, in order to put an item into pouch 23, one must pull up the edge of segment 24 or the edge of segment 26, and then the item may be slipped behind the center segment 25 and held within the belt.

Referring to FIGS. 6A and 6B, when the two sections 11 and 12 are unzipped and separated, the shorter section 12 may be used as an armband after its two ends are zipped together.

As illustrated in FIGS. 7A-C, the shorter section 12 may be affixed on the arm of a user. Again, keys or other items may be stored in the armband In FIG. 7A, the zipper 14 is not engaged. In FIG. 7B, the zipper is partly closed. And in FIG. 7C, the zipper is fully closed. Flap 32 may be used to adjust the tightness of the armband to the arm by selecting the point of attachment of the hook material (not shown) on the back of flap 32 to loop material 30.

The fabric layers of the sports belt are preferably made of stretchable material such as a poly-spandex knit. Other suitable materials are well known to those in the field. Other materials, such as the binding, zippers, and hook-and-loop fasteners, are likewise well known to those in the field.

From the description of at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, various alternations, modifications and improvements will readily occur to those skilled in the art. Such alterations, modifications and improvements are intended to be within the scope and spirit of the disclosure. For example, connector means other than toggle connectors could be employed on the support member. Likewise the panel could be made of material other than plastic mesh. Accordingly, the foregoing description is by way of example only and is not intended to be limiting. 

I claim:
 1. A sports belt for wearing at the waist of a user, comprising a first member having a first end and a second end; a second member having a first end and a second end means for removably attaching the first end of the first member to the first end of the second member, means for attaching the second end of the of the first member to the second end of the second member, to form a loop comprised of the first and second members; and wherein the second member is adapted to form a loop of a size suitable for wearing as an arm band.
 2. The sports belt of claim 2, wherein the second member comprises means for attaching the first end thereof to the second end thereof to form a loop.
 3. The sports belt of claim 1, wherein the first member includes a pouch for securely holding a small item.
 4. The sports belt of claim 1, wherein the second member includes a pouch for securely holding a small item.
 5. The sports belt of claim 2, wherein the first member includes a pouch for securely holding a small item.
 6. The sports belt of claim 1, wherein the second member includes a pouch for securely holding a small item.
 7. The sports belt of claim 2, wherein the second member includes a pouch for securely holding a small item.
 8. The sports belt of claim 1, wherein the second member is shorter in length than the first member and, when the first and second ends of the second elongated member are attached to each other, the second member forms a loop of a size suitable for wearing as an armband.
 9. The sports belt of claim 1, further comprising adjustment means for adjusting the overall length of the loop.
 10. The sports belt of claim 2, further comprising adjustment means for adjusting the overall length of the loop.
 11. The sports belt of claim 1, further comprising adjustment means for adjusting the overall length of second member.
 12. The sports belt of claim 2, further comprising adjustment means for adjusting the overall length of second member. 